


Just As A Favor

by UmJamLam



Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: Denial of Feelings, F/F, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:06:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29165418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UmJamLam/pseuds/UmJamLam
Summary: Except for two people, everyone has forgotten about Utena Tenjou. As a means of thanks for making her realize how awful the duels were, and being one of the few people to actually help her grow, Nanami vows to look after Wakaba. Certainly no other motive comes up over the time she spends doing so.Written as a request for one of the winners of my writing raffle.
Relationships: Kiryuu Nanami/Shinohara Wakaba
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Just As A Favor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CreamMoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreamMoon/gifts).



> Oh my lord. This was only supposed to be around 500 words long. It's my first RGU fic and even though I've loved the series since I was like 11 I just never felt confident enough to write anything for it. I had to cut out like 4 other scenes/ideas I had for this fic since I have two others to do for the raffle but I think once I'm done I might come back to it and spruce it up! For now I hope you enjoy and thank you Moon for the fun request!

Despite everything that had happened, Ohtori continued on the same as ever. The grounds remained perfectly uniform, with the bright green grass mowed to startling perfection, the trees without a stray branch or twig, the buildings tall and pristine. It was a campus that acted more as a city, and Nanami wondered why she had never questioned how odd that was. Universities and academies could grow to be so large that they dominated the nearby city, but this felt different—yes. Different. Perhaps city was not the right word, but rather world.

Before she had taken pride in that she was part of such a prestigious and elite school….and that within it she was the queen bee. The younger Kiryuu missed those days being idolized by all, the eyes of infatuated men---boys, and envious women—er, girls following her all around. She would have the best dresses, she would throw the best parties, and her name was always being whispered; it didn’t matter to her what they were saying, not all that much, just knowing she was so important that she was being discussed was great. If they spoke lowly of her, well, who cared? They just said that because they wanted to be her.

These days it was a little harder to think that way. It would be a lie to say that Nanami didn’t miss all the attention, and she felt that she could return to that old status, but doing so left her with an unsettling and heavy pit in her stomach. If she joined the student council everything could go back to normal.

But ‘normal’ wasn’t very normal, was it?

In fact, normal here at Ohtori was very, very wrong.

That was only something she had come to learn because of Utena Tenjou: that stupid, frustrating, pretty, brave, kind and insufferable girl. Utena, who was nowhere to be found—vanished into thin air, and worse, someone who’s existence seemed to have been blotted out entirely. It was terrifying but it made Nanami all the more determined to not engage in those duels or malicious conflicts orchestrated by the acting chairman.

The same could not be said of the former members. Her brother Touga continued to play in them, and that—with all that had happened before, put an irreparable strain on their relationship. This newfound distance was the most major contributing factor to her loss of status, and it reminded Nanami that most of the people who had praised and followed her, only did so because of her relation with her brother.

Miki was still in it. Juri was still in it. And...someone else. There was another person, right? Now who was that? Nanami furrowed her brow in thought, trying to rack her memory for the name or face before shrugging. Well, clearly they weren’t important.

Now, there was another new person, and as Nanami scanned the grounds she finally found them.

Shinohara Wakaba.

The girl had never really come under Nanami’s radar all that much until the strange group of duelists with the black roses appeared. She had been one of those to come under its spell and used—oh! That was right! Saonji in order to try and kill the Ro—Himemiya. After that she had once again faded into obscurity, and now here she was once more, not only participating, but with a rose ring to “legitimize” her status.

Nanami scrunched her face as she watched Shinohara’s dark haired friend throw her arms around her. Ugh. Couldn’t they get a room? An unpleasant feeling blossomed in her chest—one she was all too familiar with, and one that sent alarms bells in the back of her head.

Nanami had taken it upon herself to watch over Shinohara as a way of thanking Utena. This girl had been her best friend, after all, from what she had gathered and the less people involved in those duels the better. So it was only right for her to storm over there, stop before them and put her hands on her hips.

“Shinohara! We have to talk. Privately.” Wakaba and her friend looked her way, surprised, before exchanging a glance. Despite having addressed the new duelist, Nanami’s eyes were squarely on her friend until she finally disentangled herself from the brown haired girl.

“Me? Well. OK.” After one final look at her friend who gave a quiet nod, Wakaba stood up.

With a smug smile, that quickly faded, Nanami led Wakaba away and to the nearest building so they could talk within its shade, away from everyone else.

Before Nanami could open her mouth, Wakaba was already speaking.

“Is this about the duels again? I appreciate you warning me about them before, but I’m going to continue.”

Everything the blonde had rehearsed for this conversation suddenly fell away from her in her shock that Wakaba would take the initiative.

Wakaba raised the hand adorned with the rose crest ring. “This was in Utena’s room. She wore it all the time. I know how much it meant to her and that she would never leave it. And you said that reason she disappeared was because of the duels she participated in, right?” A pained looked crossed Wakaba’s face, and she dropped her hand and looked away.

“I was her best friend and I never knew she was caught up in all this. And now she’s gone—worse, no one but you and I seem to remember her. That’s...scary. That’s absolutely terrifying.” The happy and perfectly calm expression on her face from mere seconds ago when she was with her friend cracked, and Nanami got to see what she’d been hiding. Wakaba stared at her with such a look of fear that guilt gnawed at Nanami and evoked her own distress.

Nanami swallowed thickly and nodded. “Isn’t that all the more reason you should stay away, like I said? The same thing could happen to you.”

She looked at Wakaba. They were essentially the same height. When Nanami looked at her, it was easy to see that she was a rather normal girl. Average height, a little slim, she wore the usual school uniform and had plain brown hair and eyes. They were rather big--cute and expressive, and she had the warmth that sincere and friendly people just seemed to exude. The more Nanami looked at her right now, however, the more she also noticed a solemnity that wasn't present when she watched the brown haired girl in her day to day life--it gave her a very different air, and one that made her straighten up her own back.

Wakaba shook her head. “No. I need to find her. I need to find out what happened, to know that she’s OK. How am I supposed to just keep my head ducked when something like this happens? Someone disappearing without a trace?”

Nanami didn’t get it. Wakaba knew what could happen. She saw that it wasn’t an exaggeration; wanting to find your friend was good and all but at such a high risk? When she had fought, she thought she had been fighting for her bother. Nanami knew better now, so it was hard for her to wrap her head around someone fighting when they could risk something possibly worse than death.

How awful must it be to not be known? Even if that knowledge was only superficially, it was so much worse than death.

Wakaba’s insistence on finding Utena was grossly noble, noble to a fault much like Utena’s nobility has been. Stupid, naive...at least, not as self-centered. At least Nanami hoped not.

There were similarities between the two, but there were also differences that Nanami couldn’t help but note during her time observing the other girl. She was unfathomably energetic, social, cute and girly. She was an OK student and didn’t gather a lot of people around her, but those that she did she was close with.

Really close with.

It many ways it was the exact opposite of her.

“Is there anything else that you can tell me? Where she might have gone? Who might know more?”

Nanami opened her mouth, but closed it just as quickly. There was a lot she still didn’t know. She hadn’t the faintest clue where Utena had gone, or why, but she did know who might.

There was no way she was sending Wakaba to him.

“No. I don’t.”

If the truth ever came out that she was hiding something of such vital importance to her, Nanami knew Wakaba would be mad.

...but better mad than in his hands. Hopefully she could get Wakaba to stop before she wound up near him again.

The disappointment in the brown haired girl’s eyes was palpable and Nanami felt a strange tinge of sadness at seeing it, but she wasn’t about to change her mind.

“Well. If you find out anything you’ll let me know, right?”

“...sure.” Nanami replied dismissively, looking away.

Wakaba’s cheer seem to return, if her tone was any indication. “Thank you. I’ll see you later then. We should talk sometime. Since we’re the only ones who… I mean. It doesn’t have to be about that either. Just talk.” Nanami looked back at her with a befuddled expression, and when she saw the smile on Wakaba’s face she felt herself become an odd mix of uncomfortable, embarrassed and happy.

“Sure.” She said once again, drawing a happy noise from Wakaba before she made her way back to her friend.

….this girl….was going to be a real pain to look after.


End file.
